Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 03 October, 2015

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams

03 October 2015

:: International ::

Pacific Rim nations close in on a landmark trade deal

Pacific trade ministers are optimistic of closing a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal after progress on Friday on hurdles involving autos, dairy products and intellectual property protections for expensive biologic drugs.
Ministers represented in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks in Atlanta met for 20 minutes before breaking for negotiators to resume work on specific issues, work that Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Friday would likely go on all night.
The United States and Australia are locked in intense negotiations over the length of time pharmaceutical companies have exclusive rights to produce and market next-generation medicines.
Australia is one of a group of half a dozen countries resisting a U.S. push to set a standard of eight years protection and see five years as a red line.
On the third day of talks, major progress had been made on another key sticking point, the auto trade involving Japan, Canada, the United States and Mexico, Amari said, noting countries were "one step away from completion".
He said that Mexico, Canada and Japan had neared terms of a deal on increased dairy market access and that the remaining issues involved New Zealand and the United States.
New Zealand, which has 17 percent of global dairy trade, making it the largest exporter, has been pushing for improved access for its exports as part of the TPP.
But the United States is unwilling to allow in more imports unless its farmers in turn secure better access for exports in Canada and Japan.

:: Business ::

Centre to register postal bank by year end

The government is likely to register the postal bank by the end of the year while a pilot for payment services will be launched around January 2017.
According to sources, as per the timeline for setting up postal bank, approval from NITI Aayog will be secured by mid-October followed by public investment board’s nod by October-end and Cabinet approval in November.
“The registration for postal bank is planned be done in December and a pilot will be launched in January 2017,” said an official in the Communications and IT Ministry.
He said the bank will be an independent company with initial corpus of Rs 300 crore and the new entity will enter into revenue sharing model with the Department of Posts (DoP).
The Reserve Bank had granted in-principle approval to 11 applicants, including DoP, in August to set up payments banks.
As per RBI guidelines, payments banks would offer a limited range of products such as demand deposits and remittances. They will not be allowed to undertake lending activities and will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per individual customer.
They will be allowed to issue ATM or debit cards as also other prepaid payment instruments, but not credit cards.

Over 4GW of solar capacity to go on stream by the end of this fiscal

The country is set to add more than 4 GW of solar power by March 2016, the largest annual addition of capacity in the solar sector, according to a document of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
By the end of the current fiscal, the solar energy sector is expected to commission 4,345 MW of new capacity. Of this, 3,775 MW of capacity will be added under the state governments’ policies category, while about 570 MW of capacity is to be added under Central government schemes.
Tamil Nadu tops the list with about 1,214 MW capacity set to be commissioned, while Telengana is likely to add about 1,166 MW. Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are expected to add 432 MW and 350 MW respectively. Eight other states will contribute the rest of the capacity increases.
Under the central government category, about 330 MW will be added through the viability gap funding scheme (phase II and Batch I of National Solar Mission), while 240 MW will be added through rooftop programmes.
As of September 18, India has added a cumulative grid-connected solar capacity of 4,262 MW. Among the states, Rajasthan tops the table in solar capacity addition with the state contributing 1,175 MW capacity.
Gujarat is ranked number two with a contribution of 1,000 MW. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have contributed 649 MW, 379 MW and 279 MW respectively. During the first half of this fiscal, 518 MW of capacity has been commissioned.
The MNRE document also indicates that 10,859 MW of solar capacity is expected to be commissioned during 2016-17 by public sector undertakings (PSUs), states and the rooftop sector. PSUs and the rooftop segment are projected to add a combined capacity of 9,244 MW.
Meanwhile, the tariff for solar power declined as low as Rs.5 per kWh. The weighted average tariff for solar fell to Rs.5.65 per kWh, quoted in solar projects in Punjab, in September from Rs.12.16 per kWh quoted in NSM Batch 1 during December 2010, data in the report showed.

::Sports ::

India lost 1st T 20 to South Africa

In a contest that produced 399 runs in 39.4 overs, a few key aspects tend to get lost in the din. But with the advantage of hindsight, when one takes a closer look, it is not difficult to find the moments that turned the contest on its head and gave South Africa a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series here on Friday.
The scoreboard does not reflect the ease with which South Africa chased down the target of 200. Even when centurion Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were setting up their 138-run second-wicket stand, before India posted 199 for five, the South Africans did not lose hope.
The match-winning partnership of 105 between Duminy and Farhaan Behardien was built on the sound foundation of 77 between A.B. de Villiers and Hashim Amla. The fall of the openers, followed by debutant S. Arvind’s wicket of skipper Faf du Plessis — all in the space of 18 runs — had raised visions of an Indian victory. But the resolute fourth-wicket pair did not give the hosts another reason to rejoice.